Divorce

The current law regulating divorce proceedings is under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. It is stated that a divorce cannot be completed during the first year of a marriage, and for a divorce to be acknowledged, written evidence for the reason why a divorce is required is necessary. The Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 requires written evidence for at least one of the following five reasons:

Either the husband or wife has committed adultery
Either the husband or wife’s behaviour was unreasonable towards the other party
There were acts of desertion for a minimum of two years
Both husband and wife have lived apart for at least two years, and both parties have consented to a divorce proceeding
Both husband and wife have lived apart for a minimum of five years in which consent of a divorce by the other party is unnecessary

The divorce procedure is very complex and it is strongly recommended that you gain advice from an expert divorce solicitor. Most cases are usually solved between four to six months, but depending on the co-operation of the other party, the divorce proceedings can take much longer.

The initial step in starting a divorce process is completing a petition that can be acquired from a specialist divorce solicitor or the HM Court Service Website. The petition would ask questions such as why a divorce is required and if there are any children within the marriage that maybe effected. Once the petition has been returned to the divorce county court, you will be legally known as a 'petitioner' and your spouse as a 'respondent'.

The next step is a 'serving petition'. The court will send a copy of the petition to the respondent. The respondent has eight days to acknowledge the petition, otherwise a court official, in person, will serve the petition. After this, the complicity of the divorce proceeding would depend on whether or not your spouse agrees on continuing with a divorce proceeding. It is therefore critical that you gain expert advice from a specialist divorce lawyer, if you have not done so at an earlier stage.

The judge will then take all evidence into consideration, such as whether agreements over child care and financial issues have been or are in the process of being resolved. It is only when the judge agrees that all the grounds for divorce have been fully completed, does the divorce proceeding continue to the decree nisi stage. Only some cases are asked to be heard in a court; the majority will be resolved through postal communication. This stage is simply an opportunity for any party to give any reasons why they feel a divorce should not take place within six weeks. Being in contact with a specialist divorce solicitor during the divorce proceeding is highly advisable to gain expert guidance if an individual does make a statement within the six weeks.

The last stage of a divorce proceeding is called a decree absolute which finalises the divorce and declares that the marriage is over - which therefore entitles you to re-marry. You can apply for this after the decree nisi has finished (so at least six weeks and a day after the date of the decree nisi). However if you haven’t applied for decree absolute three months after the end of the decree nisi then the respondent can apply for a decree absolute. At this stage all children and financial arrangements need to be fully completed.

Finalising a divorce maybe a confusing and stressful process. It is therefore strongly advised that you contact a specialist divorce solicitor to help guide you through the process and ensure that any problems that may occur can be resolved quickly. So if you are looking for a specialist divorce lawyer then Contact Law can transfer you to your local specialist divorce solicitor free of charge.

So if you have any questions or would like our help in finding local divorce solicitors please call us on 0800 1777 162 or complete the web-form above.